He, Patton, and some of his mates, had tried to get a job there.

But the steward had turned them back.

The men off the estate had first claim, and there was not room for all of them.

Yet Hurd had been taken on, which had set people talking.
Hurd nodded, and said nothing.

He was not disposed to be communicative on the subject of his employment at the Court.
"An' it be true as _she_ be goin' to marry Muster Raeburn ?" Patton jerked his head towards the right, where above a sloping hedge the chimneys of Mellor and the tops of the Mellor cedars, some two or three fields away, showed distinct against the deep night blue.
Hurd nodded again, and smoked diligently.